The present invention relates to a system for controlling the output of messages to a display screen, and more specifically, a system whereby, in a window on the screen wherein new, additional messages are sequentially displayed, a user either can choose automatic scrolling, for the continuous display of new text or messages, or can elect to halt scrolling.
One display control system is available whereby information that occurs in consonance with the elapse of time, or in accordance with an existing system condition is output as a message displayed on a screen. However, since a conventional display control system automatically scrolls messages displayed on the screen, so that a displayed message is removed as a new message is output to the screen, an operator can not monitor older messages displayed on the screen.
It is one object of the present invention to provide a display control system whereby an operator is permitted to dynamically elect either to refer to a new message or to an old message. It is another object of the present invention to provide a display control system whereby an operator experiences no discomfiture when performing an operation.
In a window, opened on a screen, wherein new text or a new message is sequentially added and displayed at the bottom, an operator can dynamically elect either to continue the automatic scrolling of the screen, so as to continuously display new text or new messages, or to halt automatic scrolling, and thereby make it possible for desired text or messages to be selectively available for display in the window.
The ON/OFF automatic scrolling state set by a user is held in a storage area of a program and is referred to when a new, additional message is received for storage. If the automatic scrolling state is ON, the oldest message currently displayed in the display area of a window is removed, and the new message is added. If the automatic scrolling state is OFF, automatic scrolling of the window is not performed, the current display is unchanged, and the new message is added at the end of a virtual display area (message group data that can be displayed in the display area). According to the present invention, the display area of the window includes a scroll bar that an operator can manually manipulate to refer to a new message or to an old message that is not currently displayed.
According to one aspect of the present invention, provided is a display control method used by a display control apparatus, which includes a display device and an input device, that displays an obtained message, in the display area of a window with a scroll bar, the display control method comprising the steps of: (a) storing scroll option information in response to a scroll option change operation performed by an operator; (b) detecting the reception of a new message; (c) referring to the stored scroll option information to determine whether an automatic scroll mode is thereby specified; (d) removing from the display area, when it is ascertained at the step (c) that the automatic scroll mode is specified by the scroll option information, at least one portion of a message that is currently displayed, and displaying in the display area at least one portion of the new message; and (e) adding the new message to a virtual display area, when it is ascertained at the step (c) that the automatic scroll mode is not specified by the scroll option information, and setting a state wherein the operator can use the scroll bar to refer to a desired message included in the virtual display area.
In the claims of this specification, the xe2x80x9cdisplay areaxe2x80x9d includes a xe2x80x9clist display area,xe2x80x9d which described later in the preferred embodiment. The xe2x80x9cvirtual display areaxe2x80x9d includes a xe2x80x9clist display area,xe2x80x9d which described later in the preferred embodiment. The xe2x80x9cmessagexe2x80x9d includes xe2x80x9ctext or message,xe2x80x9d which described later in the preferred embodiment.
According to another aspect of the present invention, provided is a display control method used by a display control apparatus, which includes a display device and an input device and which displays an obtained message in the display area of a window with a scroll bar on the display device, the display control method comprising the steps of: (a) referring to scroll option information, which is stored in advance in the display control apparatus, to determine whether the scroll option information specifies an automatic scroll mode; (b) removing from the display area, when it is ascertained at the step (a) that the scroll option information specifies the automatic scroll mode, at least one portion of a message that is currently displayed, and displaying in the display area at least one portion of a received new message by the display control apparatus; and (c) adding the received new message to a virtual display area, when it is ascertained at the step (a) that the scroll option information does not specify the automatic scroll mode, and setting the display control apparatus to a state wherein the operator can use the scroll bar to refer to a desired message included in the virtual display area.
According to an additional aspect of the present invention, provided is a display control apparatus, which includes a display device and an input device, that displays an obtained message, in the display area of a window with a scroll bar, the display control apparatus comprising: (a) a scroll option change unit for storing scroll option information in response to a scroll option change operation performed by an operator; (b) an input event detector for detecting the reception of a new message; (c) a new message processor for referring to the stored scroll option information to determine whether an automatic scroll mode is thereby specified; (d) a display area manager for, when it is ascertained that the automatic scroll mode is specified by the scroll option information, removing from the display area at least one portion of a message that is currently displayed, and displaying in the display area at least one portion of the new message, and for, when it is ascertained that the automatic scroll mode is not specified by the scroll option information, adding the new message to a virtual display area, and setting a state wherein the operator can use the scroll bar to refer to a desired message included in the virtual display area.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, provided is a storage medium storing a message display control software product for a display control apparatus, which includes a display device and an input device and which displays an obtained message, in the display area of a window with a scroll bar, the display control software product comprising: (a) program code for instructing the display control apparatus to store scroll option information in response to a scroll option change operation performed by an operator; (b) program code for instructing the display control apparatus to detect the reception of a new message; (c) program code for instructing the display control apparatus to refer to the stored scroll option information to determine whether an automatic scroll mode is thereby specified; (d) program code for instructing the display control apparatus to remove from the display area, when it is ascertained at the step (c) that the automatic scroll mode is specified by the scroll option information, at least one portion of a message that is currently displayed, and to display in the display area at least one portion of the new message; and (e) program code for instructing the display control apparatus to add the new message to a virtual display area, when it is ascertained at the step (c) that the automatic scroll mode is not specified by the scroll option information, and to set a state wherein the operator can use the scroll bar to refer to a desired message included in the virtual display area.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, provided is a storage medium storing a message display control software product for a display control apparatus, which includes a display device and an input device and which displays an obtained message in the display area of a window with a scroll bar on the display device, the display control software product comprising: (a) program code for instructing the display control apparatus to refer to scroll option information, which is stored in advance in the display control apparatus, to determine whether the scroll option information specifies an automatic scroll mode; (b) program code for instructing the display control apparatus to remove from the display area, when it is ascertained that the scroll option information specifies the automatic scroll mode, at least one portion of a message that is currently displayed, and to display in the display area at least one portion of a received new message by the display control apparatus; and (c) program code for instructing the display control apparatus to add the received message to a virtual display area, when it is ascertained that the scroll option information does not specify the automatic scroll mode, and to set the display control apparatus to a state wherein the operator can use the scroll bar to refer to a desired message included in the virtual display area.